National Championship Blog...

ATLANTA, GA - Just when you thought CursedCleveland.com was out, the Buckeyes pulled us back in (and by "in," we mean, we'll be doing a running diary and following that up with weeks of non-posting).

8:57 EST- It's unanimous, not one national pundit, blogger, radio host, columnist, and television camera operator thinks the Buckeyes can't win tonight. Problem is, Thad Matta's mother has a drive time radio show in Illinois.

9:06 - CBS couldn't find a spot for Gus Johnson anywhere? And as I write that, they played his historic call of the Ron Lewis' shot against Xavier.

9:09 - Billy Donovan - "You're playing for the guy next to you." He then added, "Do it for Teddy Dupay...he's got lots of money riding on this.

9:16 - Greg Oden just got whistled for his second foul. And in just a few minutes, the 2007 national title game gets underway!

9:18 - Billy Packer, "Mike Conley, he's a guard everyone dreams about." Well, to be honest, just John Amaechi...and in a few months, Richard Jefferson (Just remember where you heard it, it's the worst kept secret in America).

9:23 - Horford with a quick foul 2 minutes in, and subsequently yanked

9:29 - We're 3o minutes in Monday Night Raw, and no appearance by the freshly bald Vince Mcmahon? How is this possible?

9:34- Florida mixing up defenses like Joakim Noah mixes in a man dress from time to time.

9:37 - Great, our national championship is being besieged with touch fouls.

9:42 - Halfway through the first half, Billy Packer is only slightly grating, with shorts stints of abrasiveness. The early line was 70% irritability.

9:48 - OSU 1 of 7 from deep, they have zero chance of pulling the upset with those numbers. Also, Brewer has put the defensive clamps down on Ron Lewis. Florida is rarely doubling on the post, meaning OSU guards need to beat their guy one-on-one off the dribble. Other than Conley, it's not happening. (Florida 21- OSU 15)

9:58 - OSU 2-10 from three point range. Florida 5-7. No reason to get real technical, we knew OSU wouldn't have much of a chance if Florida was hitting from outside. Compound that with the Buckeyes' inability to hit mostly wide open looks, and it's a recipe for disaster.

10:05 - I've had 7 calls already about the officiating. To be honest, I don't think OSU has been getting shafted. Oden has had some blocks that you know could go either way. And OSU is content shooting threes. Where's the penetration?

Halftime - Florida 40 - OSU 29

10:22 - Dick Enberg's annual witty and profound piece revolved around hands. He just threw in more puns than Jim Nantz watching Carrot Top's routine (Which is still funnier than this running diary).

10:39 - Buckeyes now 2 of 14 from 3. Oden is finally dominating offensively (something we've been waiting for all season), but he's actually killing OSU defensively. I know I know, he's blocking shots galore, but look at where Florida's success is coming from - the outside, where Oden is too slow helping on the screens

10:41 - If ever there was an offense that Tony Stockman was made for, this is it. I mean, it's the national title game, OSU is dominating inside, and we're hurling up threes as if it cures cancer. Yet, every player wearing red has the absolute green light from the outside.

10:44 - Mike Conley finally remembers he's the quickest guard in college basketball and penetrates (I've done little to no research to back that up, but I'm basing it on a few tournament games).

10:51 - Not to belabor the point, but Jamar Butler is 0-4 from 3, Ron Lewis is 0-3, and Ivan Harris is 2-9.

10:54 - Humphrey's three along with two point-blank misses and a dunk by Horford...now lose balls are going to Florida (Humphrey misses a three so badly it goes right to Richard who gets an and one). Now down 14

11:00 - Hats off to Oden, he's playing his 35 year old ass off. Too bad this doesn't look like it's going to end well. (Nantz says he's had to present his birth certificate often...I run into the same problem on teen dating sites)

11:04 - Buckeyes deploy a press I haven't seen all year, and subsequently force a few turnovers. Where's Gus Johnson..?? Can we mobilize the national guard fly him in or something? I just can't see Jim Nantz calling a comeback.

11:07 - Florida getting extremely fortunate with the possessions after blocked shots. OSU needs to come up with lose balls. By the way, if you don't think Thad is getting ripped after this game about their commitment to the outside shot, then you don't know how national blogs and Skip Bayless work.

11:12 - Green hits another three. OSU is playing damn well in the second half and OSU is down 9.

11:14 - David Lighty comes into the game to play shut down defense, and instead shoots a three. Dagger.

11:18 - It's not all bad Buckeye fans, let's get ready for One Shining Moment!! How many missed threes can they throw into a three-minute song??

11:21 - Wow, Mrs. Noah was a former Ms. Sweden, apparently someone didn't age well.

11:28 - OSU ON FIRE, they've cut it to 9 with 9 seconds left!!!!!!!!!!!!!

11:30 - I think Noah has lost all dancing privileges after this game, talk about killing your draft status.

11:31 - And it's over. OSU loses to Florida again. Talk about a tough pill to swallow not named "RU-486." Hey, at least we have a better recruiting class in 07, and 08. So we have that going for us. No shame in this defeat, outside of Noah, you'd have to say Florida played pretty well. They shot lights out from the outside, got every lose ball late while OSU was attempting to mount a comeback, and shot 88% from the foul line.